The California Independent System Operator (ISO) Corp. has released its final integration of renewable resources report.

The report examines some of the challenges associated with integrating the wave of renewable power expected to come online in the next few years. The state's renewable portfolio standard will ensure utilities will buy 20% of the power to serve their customers from green resources by 2010. The ISO report spells out the feasibility of blending some 4,000 MW of new wind and solar power into the resource mix that feeds into the California power grid, bringing the total renewable resources in California to more than 13,000 MW.

"The ISO has a long history of studying wind integration issues and adapting power system operating practices to assure reliability, while gaining the benefits of increased wind power at a minimal cost," says Rob Gramlich, policy director for the American Wind Energy Association.

The report also finds that pairing electricity-reducing programs, known as "demand resources," with renewable power helps offset the swings in output produced by green resources that are dependent on nature. In conjunction with release of the report, ISO also announced the opening of its new demand-response lab - DR365.

"Demand response will be a powerful tool for meeting the environmental challenges ahead," says Yakout Mansour, ISO's president and CEO. "It is not necessarily about using less electricity, but rather using it in a smart way. The demand response laboratory demonstrates 'set and forget' automation technology that helps consumers, large and small, make predefined changes to their electricity usage that will reduce the strain on the grid, while reducing the strain on costs.”